Seahawks RB Marshawn Lynch Leaning Towards Retirement?

Seahawks GM John Schneider mentioned Friday that he’s “under the impression” that RB Marshawn Lynch is leaning toward retiring this offseason, per  Bob Condotta.

Schneider added that they “are going to treat him with as much respect as we possibly can here and give him a little leeway to kind of find his way in terms of what he wants to do.’’

• Pro Football Talk points out that ifLynch retires, he would owe the Seahawks $5 million in signing bonus money. With this in mind, PFT believes Lynch would be best served holding out to be released.
• Jason Cole of B/R recently reported that the Seahawks would like to have Lynch return for the 2016 season, even though they have cheaper and younger options like Thomas Rawls.
• However, Cole adds that Lynch’s cap figure of $11.5 million is simply to high for them to keep Lynch at that price, which means that if Lynch were to return in 2016, he would likely have to agree to a “significant” pay cut and accept something like a $2 or $3 million salary with incentives included in the agreement.

Lynch, 29, is in the first year of his three-year, $31 million contract that included $12 million guaranteed. He’ll make a base salary of $4.5 million this season and another $9 million in 2016.

According to OverTheCap.com, releasing Lynch next year would free up $6.5 million in cap space for the Seahawks while creating $5 million in dead money.

In 2015, Lynch ran for 417 yards on 111 carries (3.8 YPC) to go along with 13 receptions for 80 yards receiving and three total touchdowns over the course of seven games.

We’ll have more regarding Lynch’s future with the Seahawks as the news is available.